why is all the track stuff on ebay from australia priced at about twice what it is in the rest of the world!?
i can't figure it out.

See folks from Oz moaning that its really hard to get track parts there. Few importers, small scene etc. I think limited supply meets with demand resulting in jacked up prices.

But this is my uninformed opinion which is why I post here

If you can believe this, in canada I had a hell of a time finding a Durace- lockring... Even suppliers that sell the cogs dont carry the lockrings and LBS can't (at least the couple I went to) order shimano from teh US cuase of the supplier contracts.. I broke down and order one from the US.
The only one here is surly for like 40$ (**** that)

Almost makes me want to live in the US... but only for a second.

EVERYTHING in oz is expensive (consider this opinion informed)

socialism.
taxes are the price of democracy.

Yeah, AU ebay prices are mental.

I guess you can always extend your eBay searched to include the rest of the world (and people that offer shipping to Australia). All depends on how confident you are with buying from overseas sellers (I've never had any problems).

High Australian prices isn't a problem particular to eBay though.

My local bike shop is selling the Surley Steamroller frame for AUD$800 (US$635.80). Although Harris Cyclery sells it for US$410.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/s...eamroller.html

I love my local bike shop, and I -do- believe in supporting local business. But for AU$800 I could get a Bob Jackson track frame delivered direct to my door from the UK (which I think is what I'll be doing).

We support too much democracy in Australia.

17.5% tariff on clothing plus 10% sales tax.

10% sales tax on bikes & parts.

Small market so middle-men have more mark-up.

I priced a Cannondale Road Warrior 1000 at US$1,400 in the US and A$4,500 (US$3,500) in Australia. Even in Japan it was selling for A$2,700 (US$2,100) which was roughly what it should have sold for in Australia.

Yeah, that's crazy.

At US$1,400, even if you got stung for GST by customs, still works out a helluva lot cheaper than buying it in $AU.

Track gear aside, I don't get why bike shops in Australia aren't more price competitive with overseas markets. We've sold more bikes than cars in recent years; so it's not like they have low sales numbers (come to think of it, maybe the prices are high because the demand is high). It seems like every time I go to my local bike shop there's someone walking out of there with a brand new kick ass looking mountain bike. And I don't think they have to pay any import duties.

Does the problem perhaps lie with distributors in AU?

There's something wrong when you can fly to the US and buy a cannondale for around the same price as it costs to buy it from your local bike shop.

Ah yes, the old "Why are prices high in Au" nugget.

The answer involves 4 parts. One. GST adds 10% each step of the way which exaggerates price. Two. Too many links in the distribution chain blows out prices. Three. Very small dispersed market (not even the size of California) means margins are high. Four. Distibutors use borderline anti-trust tactics to ensure there is little if any competition from grey or parallel importing.

The above also dictates 2nd hand prices.

If you think it sucks from where you sit, try living here. A spare tube is 7 bucks.

It's my understanding that GST is only charged once, to the consumer. Not at each step in the supply chain.

In fact, businesses are able to claim back any GST they pay, so if they do get charged GST by their suppliers there's no reason for them to be passing it on to their customers.

Then again, I don't run a bike shop so I wouldn't really know.

GST is charged all the way down the line but businesses are able to claim it back so the final 10% is only for the end user to pay (assuming they can't claim it back).

Pauline Hanson tried to float 'ezy tax' as an alternative to GST and this was a tax that added 2% to each step in the process. It was, of course, ridiculous.

This makes perfect sense to me. I belong here too.